A ‘gutless’, uninspiring and uncreative midweek performance at the St. Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium saw Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn Rovers side fall to their sixth defeat of the season, after Birmingham City capitalised on the visitors’ defensive woes in order to pick up their fourth home win of the season and what was only their second victory from their last seven games.
The side that started at St Andrew’s saw just one change to the Rovers side that let a lead slip at the weekend against Huddersfield Town. Former Brum loanee Sam Gallagher was thrown into the starting line-up for his first start in two games, as the weekend’s goalscorer, Lewis Holtby, dropped out of the squad altogether with a suspected hamstring injury.
With the players ready and the pitch lit up for this midweek fixture, it was the home side who got proceedings underway in the hope that they could grab a vital victory that could propel them closer to the playoffs and away from flirting with relegation, which is where many expected them to be.
The affair started brightly for Rovers, as they got their first opportunity, just two minutes in. Lewis Travis did well down the left-hand side to keep possession under pressure before being able to cutely play the ball through to Sam Gallagher, who was lurking on the edge of the area. Despite the optimistic start, however, Gallagher’s attempt ultimately veered wide of Lee Camp’s near-post.
Rovers were at it again, only three minutes later, as Bradley Dack began to weave his magic in the final third, as Birmingham were rattled by Rovers’ early start. Dack picked up the ball and managed to slide in a vibrant Gallagher, who used his pace well to get beyond the covering defender. Although Gallagher did well to initially hold off his man, Kristian Pedersen did exceptionally well to block the forward’s subsequent shot, before the ball was cleared.
The game soon died down into a battle for possession, with Birmingham getting the better of Rovers in terms of the percentage, after just less than a quarter of the game had gone. On the 15th minute, however, Birmingham managed to turn their play into a rare opportunity during the opening quarter. Kerim Mrabti did well to spot the run of Fran Villalba who had sneaked in behind Rovers’ defence before releasing a shot that Christian Walton did well to parry behind, at his near-post. From the set-piece, the ball fell to former Arsenal midfielder, Dan Crowley, who tried his luck from range, but saw his effort balloon over the bar.
Rovers regained possession of the ball and broke towards goal on the 23rd minute through the pacey Adam Armstrong, who was played through by Dack. Despite Armstrong’s good run and positional awareness, his left-footed effort was again blocked by Pedersen, who seemed to be everywhere in terms of getting in the way of Rovers efforts, as Armstrong’s shot deflected behind for a corner off the former Danish under-21 international. The corner was floated into the box and flicked on towards an unmarked Derrick Williams, who lashed at the ball ferociously, which led to the hosts earning a goal-kick.
Three minutes later, Birmingham’s threat increased as 16-year old midfielder Jude Bellingham picked up the ball on the edge of Rovers’ box, who let an attempt fly after a sound swivel created the angle for his strike. Despite just being 16, the Brum academy graduate released a thunderous effort that stung the palms of Walton, in the Rovers goal, who could only parry it away from his net.
The host’s pressure throughout the second-half of the first period soon paid off as former Brentford defender, Maxime Colin, managed to break the deadlock with a header from point-blank range with just half-an-hour gone. Villalba, Mrabti and Crowley all combined well, as they interchanged passes and backheels through the Rovers defence, before the latter floated in an inviting ball towards the back-post that bamboozled Rovers’ makeshift defence, and only needed a touch from a home player to put Birmingham ahead. That touch duly came by the head of Colin who stormed in at the back-stick, from the right-back position, in order to tuck home his first of the season and make it 1-0 to Pep Clotet’s side.
Rovers, who lacked a consistent out-ball throughout the entirety of the first-half, managed to craft a chance from the wide areas. Stand-in left-back Elliott Bennett managed to get down the line and float in a ball that Armstrong sped onto the end of. Despite the forward’s recent good form which saw him notch up three goals in his past five games, he was unable to make it four in six as his header skidded wide of the mark.
After referee Darren England called for one additional minute of time to be added on, Rovers were awarded a wide free-kick that Stewart Downing took, but was soon cleared as the official called time on a terrible half, from a Rovers perspective, with the away side looking void of confidence and ideas when in possession, despite a few standalone attempts that, in truth, didn’t test Brum ‘keeper Lee Camp.
During the interval, Pep Clotet and the rest of his interim staff would have been delighted with the possessional play that their side displayed throughout the first 45 minutes. From the retention of possession, to the quickfire passes between Rovers’ backline, Birmingham seemed determined not to be overrun on their own turf, in an attempt to try and rectify the wrongs of their previous game, which was a 1-0 defeat against Leeds United, at Elland Road. The Spanish caretaker gaffer would have been instructing to his players that, for all their success in the first period, they would need to concentrate fully in order to see the game out against a side who have renowned attacking quality within their ranks.
On the other side of the tunnel, Tony Mowbray would have undoubtedly been fuming at his side for their lack of creativity, passion, desire and solidity at the back. Despite showing signs of positivity in the final third against Huddersfield Town, at the weekend – albeit with Lewis Holtby in the side – it seemed as if a different Rovers team had turned up at St. Andrew’s and all of the ideas, creativity and confidence that they had built-up over the international break and the previous game, had dissipated from kick-off. Despite the boss’s potential criticisms to his side, he would have been offering them contrasting words of encouragement, in an effort to not only boost morale, but to offer some guidance into how Rovers could claw their way back into the tie.
As both teams returned to the field of play, ready to battle it out for another 45 minutes, it was Bradley Dack who restarted the game, with the hope that he could sprinkle some magic that an unchanged second-half Rovers side desperately needed, in order to give the 679 travelling Rovers fans some reward for their efforts.
Rovers flew out of the blocks in the second period as their early possession resulted in the first effort of the half. Lewis Travis picked up the ball from around 25-yards out on the 47th minute and released a shot that deflected behind for a corner. From the resulting set-piece taken by former Aston Villa man, Stewart Downing. Manchester City loanee Tosin Adarabioyo was the man who rose highest in the box after escaping his marker but he failed to make his opportunity count as his nod dropped over the bar and behind the goal.
It took until the 55th minute for the first booking of the game to arrive. The yellow card fell on the head of Blues captain, Harlee Dean who cropped down Sam Gallagher inside the Rovers half, after the forward had tracked back and dispossessed the defender.
On the 61st minute, the first Brum substitution occurred which saw the homegrown youngster, Jude Bellingham depart the field of play with former Chelsea youth graduate, Josh McEachran taking his place, as the latter came on for his debut for the home side.
In concurrence with the Birmingham changes, Rovers made a couple of their own, as Sam Gallagher and Bradley Johnson both departed the field of play with Danny Graham and Joe Rothwell replacing them respectively, as per the orders of the travelling fans.
Graham’s entrance to the field proved to instantaneously spark Rovers into life as he aided the creation of a chance that narrowly zipped wide. Armstrong tried to find the incoming centre-forward who couldn’t get to the ball before the Birmingham defence. The ball was only knocked back as far as Downing whose effort from range veered wide of the home side’s net.
On the 66th minute, David Davis was shown a yellow card for infringing upon Rothwell.
Christian Walton managed to keep his side in the game with a save from a matter of yards out. Villalba got on the end of a deep cross, but saw his effort denied by Walton who sprawled his 6’5” frame as wide as possible in order to keep the Spaniard’s effort out of the bottom corner and keep the deficit at one goal.
That aforementioned deficit was nearly widened to two, on the 71st minute, in spectacular fashion as Lukas Jutkiewicz struck a spectacular effort that thundered off the underside of the crossbar and bounced out, before Rovers managed to clear to relative safety.
Minutes after Birmingham thought they’d doubled their lead; their substitution tally was instead doubled instead as goal assister Dan Crowley was replaced by fellow midfielder Jacques Maghoma.
Moments after the second home change, Rovers played their final card as Stewart Downing left the field to a chorus of boos from the home crowd, before John Buckley came on to replace him.
The 80th minute saw the hosts execute their third and final change as Kerim Mrabti was taken off, with Álvaro Giménez replacing him for the final chunk of the game.
After the final changes of the game were made, Rovers had the next chance of the tie, which fell to substitute, Danny Graham. Armstrong broke through down the right-hand side and managed to pick out Graham, who was lurking at the back-post, with a cross that the striker did well to control. Despite being pressurised and closed down by the home side, Graham let a shot fly, after steadying himself with a touch, that skewed agonisingly wide of the near-post, despite some away fans believing it had crept in.
What could be argued as Rovers’ best chance of the second-half came on the 84th minute as Elliott Bennett nearly caught Birmingham ‘keeper Camp out, with a deflected long-range effort. Following a sustained period of Rovers pressure, the ball dropped invitingly for Bennett who shaped up to shoot. The subsequent powerful effort deflected off a home defender and had Camp scrambling before he acrobatically managed to tip it over the bar, in order to concede a corner, rather than a goal.
From a Birmingham counter-attack, Derrick Williams saw his name taken by the referee after he hacked down Maghoma on halfway.
The 86th minute saw another Rovers chance flash by, as Dack managed to glance a header wide in what summarised a disappointing evening for the playmaker and his side.
With the full-time whistle looming, Derrick Williams tried his luck from goal with a 30-yard strike from distance. Despite the ambitious nature of the effort, the strike itself wasn’t that bad, as it agonisingly ended up on the wrong side of Lee Camp’s near-post, as the former Norwich City ‘keeper was awarded another goal-kick.
As the hopes of a Rovers equaliser began to ebb away, as when the clock ticked over into the 90th minute, referee Darren England signalled for four minutes of added time to be added, which provided Rovers with some encouragement, despite the odds not falling in their favour.
The final act of the game soon fell on John Buckley who was booked for a push during an encounter with a Birmingham man, during the dying embers of the game.
This game leaves a sour taste in the mouths of all Rovers fans, whether they had travelled or not. Having started this season with a sense of optimism and hope around Ewood Park that Rovers could potentially make a surge for the playoffs and surprise the league, no win in their past five games now leaves the Blues fans with a different array of emotions to deal with. Whilst there were many positives from an attacking perspective after Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Huddersfield Town, any positivity that would have engulfed the fans before 7:45pm on Tuesday evening would have dissipated as time wore on, with Rovers looking void of passion, pace and decisiveness. It is difficult to sum up into legible words the feelings following this game and this spell, without either being overly critical or going over old ground, which makes it difficult to offer a fairly unbiased perspective on how Rovers can get out of the situation they’re in. Whilst many may call for the manager’s head, especially after the demotivating and lacklustre performances and the perceived transfer ‘failures’ in the eyes of fans, there would still be an argument to say that a change would do more harm than good, especially with Rovers only in their second season since their return to the second tier, with many expecting this transitioning side to ‘run before they can walk’.
The league table after 13 games makes pretty grim reading for Rovers, as they seem settled in 14th place, with 15 points and a -3-goal difference, leaving them three points off their nearest rival in Cardiff City who occupy 13th.
In terms of fixtures, things do not get any easier for Mowbray’s men as their next tie sees them make the short trip across Lancashire to face high-flying Preston North End, on Saturday 26th October at 3pm, who find themselves living out Rovers’ dreams, as they sit in a lofty 5th place. After their trip to Deepdale, Rovers return home to face a resurgent Sheffield Wednesday side, who Rovers host on Saturday 2nd November at 3pm, in part one of a November Yorkshire double-bill. Following their clashes within the Red Rose County, part two continues as Rovers travel to the White Rose County to face Leeds United on Saturday 9th November at 3pm, in the hope that last year’s last-gasp drama isn’t repeated.
